Thai Inspired Fried Rice

I say Thai "inspired" because I used ingredients like lemon grass, green curry paste, coconut milk that are used widely in Thai cooking, but I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the manner in which it was cooked. This is kind of “Passport to Thailand” kind of a recipe made using ingredients on hand.

It is also “clean your fridge for next week’s grocery shopping” recipe too.This dish came about while thinking of IVAW-Thai being guest hosted by talented Priya @ Akshayapaatram and looking at the stragglers in the fridge. Its A Vegan World is a monthly blog event started by Lovely Vaishali @ Holy Cow.

This makes a quick dinner and great for lunch boxes too. Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice – 1½ cups
Extra firm Tofu – 1 12 oz. package, drained and cubed
Mixed veggies – 3 cups (I used carrots, French cut beans, green pepper, peas)
Onion – 1 large, diced
Green chilies – 2, sliced
Scallions – 1 bunch, chopped
Green curry paste – 3tbsp (I used store-bought)
Coconut milk – ¼ cup (I used store-bought)
Ginger – 1” piece
Garlic – 2 cloves
Lemon grass – 2tbsp of the chopped soft fleshy part
Soy sauce – 2 tsp
Sambal Oleak – 1tsp (optional)
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Cook rice and keep aside to cool.
  
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a large sauté pan on medium high; sauté tofu till lightly brown on all sides, about 10-12 minutes; remove from the pan and keep aside.
• In the same pan, add ginger, garlic, lemon grass and sauté for 30seconds.
  
• Add green curry paste and sauté for couple of minutes until fragrant.
  
• Next add all the veggies and stir-fry on medium high until crisp tender. Add coconut milk, salt and pepper; cook for 5 minutes until the mixture dries out just a little bit. Add cooked rice, mix well and cook until heated through, another 5 minutes. Enjoy this spicy fried rice with some raita.

Thai food at home

I have had Thai food a couple of times and it’s kind of intriguing to me. I like the flavors of coconut milk, ginger, lemon grass and thai basil. But finding truly vegetarian dishes in Thai restaurants has always been an issue for me. Though they serve a lot of vegetable dishes, most of these are prepared by using ingredients like oyster sauce and fish sauce, while even the seed based sesame sauces can contain some animal extracts. I treid these Thai recipes from my "Vegetarian: The greatest ever Vegetarian cookbook" by Nicola Graimes and they turned out pretty good.

Thai Fragrant rice:

Ingredients:
Brown basmati rice – 1 cup
Onion – 1 medium chopped
Vegetable stock - 3 cups
Ginger – 1” piece, peeled & chopped
Lemon grass – 1 stalk, finely chopped
Lime zest – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Rinse rice in cold water till the water runs clear. Soak in water for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan; add onions, spices, lemon grass and lime zest and cook gently for 2-3 minutes.
• Add rice and cook for another minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan. Cook gently for 30 minutes then check the rice. If it is still crunchy, cover the pan again and leave for a further 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Fluff up the grains with a fork and leave for 10 minutes.
  

Thai Potato Curry

Ingredients:
Yukon gold potatoes – 4 medium
Onion – 1 large chopped
Coconut Milk – ½ cup
Low sodium vegetable broth – 1/3 cup
Chopped tomatoes – 1 cup with juice
Thai green curry paste (vegetarian) – 2 ½ tbsp (store-bought or homemade)
Chili powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Fresh basil - 1tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• In a wok or skillet, heat 2 tsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and stir-fry until golden, 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and stir-fry 1 minute.
• Add potatoes and toss well to coat. Stir in coconut milk and broth.
  
• Cover and cook on medium low flame till the potatoes are tender.
• When the potatoes are just done, add the tomatoes with juice, chili powder (if using). Mix well, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in lemon juice and basil. Serve over rice.

This is my entry for this Anthony's Curry mela #30.